Means for regulating alpha gas mixture for internal combustion engines



June 30, 1931. I. L. DUNN ETAL 1,812,088

MEANS FOR REGULATING A GAS MIXTURE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Aug. 2. 1926 INVENTORJ //'/V//,7 4.0); jay 1e 66. as.

A T'TORNE y is apurpose-ofour invention to'providesi ch Patented June 30, 19 31 I AssIGNMEN'Ts; TonUNnf & LEWIS; or

"zeosnnor mwmn nnm rnnn mamas lawmnnnmi AND LESLIE c1 mmeus, on'mu'nsa, oxnanoivmgassxenons, nx iunsnn f TULS OKLAHOMA; aram nnasn r com-[ w 0. LEWIS Means roannenna'rme A "GAS I JIIx'rURE IfbR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES i Our invention relates to internal, comb'ustion engines and more -particularlyto means [for regulating the richness of the explosive V e p I 1 {wide' open] Then the'valvebetweenthe-air mixture in such engines.

15, :It is; the purpose of our inventionitoprozvide means for supplementing or supplant- 1ng the mix ng dev cecommonly employed m connection w th gas englnes said means comfpensatin fer the yariable percentage gof 10 combustl le gas in gas. mixtures used n such engines, iparticularly where the gas is obtained ,directlyfrom wells that are being supplied with 'a fluidpressi1re medium in cluding air'tocauselthesame to fiowf. j

Under "ordinar conditions where the gas that issupplied romwells thathave a compressed fluid; medium appliedto the oil sand to cause the flowof gas and oil from the sand to the jwellethe fmixture of gas and air is siifi'i'ciently rich toi provide for efli'cientv operation of the engine by the addition of air thereto in the usual manner. It often "'hap-;

T Tpens; however, that when; gas is used from e an oilwellgfrom which'air 1s passing mixed with the gas, due to the,

ep'plicatio'ni of com} pressed air to the oil .san

"for the lean'ness of the gas mixture and vit Preferably" our improved ,means for. com- .pensating for the variation'in the ;richness of gas mixtures comprisesa Connection lead- {.335 ing m hergassupply pipe to the. air in:-,

take pipe supplemental to the-ordinarycone nection between the gas supply pipe and the intake chamber'fof "the internal combustion 7 engine; x'l heconne ctionbetween the gassup- 4.0 ply pipelandthe air intake pipes refer ably -provlded-wlth avalve where, ythe 'ameuntbf gas passing through said con nection maybevariedin accordance with the richness of 'thegasniixture; in the gas sup- 4 Ply Pip T v a o rfwords; maybe entirely closed When the richest mixture is 4 obtainable and may reniain, closed 11nti1'the mixture re ehesj such a; stage that the 'ordi e ew e; p ovi d? his the ti0n tw en the i rrta; l; aichamber "andithe gas jsupi the gas isiweak iened to such an extent that it becomes necessary to provide means for compensating .plyfpipe does .not permiti sufiicient gas to enter the intake' chamber. to be mixed with theair to operate the engineflwith'theivalve j intake pipe-and the gas supply pipe may be opened to: mix gas with the air supplied to the engine beforefgit 'reaches the intake; chamber to thus increase the contentof 'c'om bustible gas in the mixture in said chamber 5 in proportion to the air and bring it up to the-point "where the same has the desired richness-to give the explosive action which 'to operate a-lfgas engine under" all conditions times been found to be desirable to provide 1 another supplementalgasl supplymeansfor V addingja richer gas tothat entering the in-1 take chamber. 1 It has;also been found that 1 J while'the intake chamber is ordinarily the usualmixing chamber provided-,withthe usual valves ;therein, the evalve bet veen the e gas intake piper and the-mixin'g -chamber may i 3 begomittedi with ounarrangementbf a sup 'plemental, gas supply leading into the air intake, theairinta'ke pipe thus'acting' as a v portion ofthe mixing chamber and 'the' pro *lated by the valveswe provide-leading from,

described,;bu t to include as partfof ourinvention' all such obvious ,changes and modifi- "a cationsof parts awould occur to, a person the scopeof the claim. 1 Inthedrawings':

s Fig, 1 is a perspective view jof aninter h .is necessary ,forefiicient operation :of the v I engine; This would ordinarily-besuflicient not ordinarily found ":to' exist; =but'litl1a'sfsome- I portion-0f gasto the air 'therein can bjeire'gu; L

' J the" gas supply so that the,,prop er' mixture a a ob ie cts andfadvantagestof ithe i iever, we do not wish to beunderstood as lim iting'ourselvesto thei exact details shownor skilled'in this artand as would Within; e

m wmbustidni ns n q?$5 1 fli n- 1 I proved gas su'pply fmeans assQ latGIl-thQ Q: 1

E1g,"' 2 is a "view partly iii 1:06 a

elevation and partly in section of the gas and air conduits leading to said engine.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, of a modified arrangement.

Referring in detail to the drawings:

In Figs. 1 and 3 is shown an internal com bustion engine having the cylinders 11 to which a mixture of gas and air is supplied from the intake chamber 12. The fuel for for the en gine is supplied from source here shown to be an oil well 13 provided with a casing head 14 from which the gas supply pipe 15 passes to a gas pipe line or main 16. An oil supply pipe 17 also leads from said well under ordinary circumstances. The main 16 may supply the to any number of engines or other devices associated therewith and in the case in which a plurality of engines is associated with said main, the connections are ,made substantially the same on each engine and accordingly only one engine is shown with the connections leading thereto. In the a .rangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the supply pipe 18 leads from the gas main 16 and is provided with a fitting 19 which is preferably made in the form of a Y and has the obliquely extending portion 20 from which the relative- 1y small gas supply pipe 21 leads to the intake chamber 12. A valve 22 is interposed in the pipe 21 to vary the efiective opening thereof for the supply of to the intake chamber 12. Extending from the fitting 19 in substantially axial alignment with the gas supply pipe 18 is a pipe 23 which is substantially the same see as the pipe 18 and which has the valve 24 provided therein. An air intake pipe 25 is connected with the air intake opening 26 of the intake chamber 12 in any suitable manner as by means of the usual screw threaded connection, and the pipe 23 communicates with the interior of the air intake pipe 25, being connected therewith in any suitable manner, by welding, to provide a substantially air tight connection between the pipe 23 and the pipe 25. The air intake connection preferably is further provided with an elbow 27 which leads to the open-ended air intake pipe 28, the intake connection thus being open to the air at the end 29 thereof and opening into the int-ake'chamber 12 at the other end thereof, a suction operated valve being provided in the intake chamber at the air intake connection if desired.

In using the apparatus described above, ordinarily, when the gas mixture coming throughthe main 16 comes from wells that lead from. an oil sand which is supplied with a compressed fluid including air, the mixture passing through the main 16 includes variablequantities ofair and combustible gas. Where the content of combustible gas proportionate to that of the air is relatively large, the gas is supplied through the pipe that very little power is obtained or even 21, only, to the intake chamber 12, the valve 22 being regulated to obtain thedesired proportion of said mixture to the air passing in through the intake pipe 25. The percentage of combustible in the mixture of gas and air in the pipe line 16 varies considerably, however, and at times reaches such a low proportion of the total mixture of gas and air flowing in the pipe 16 that it is impossible to obtain an explosive mixture in the intake chamber 12 that is rich enough to efficiently operate the engine. In other words, the mixture is so diluted with air that the force of the explosion is reduced to such a point 60 to the point where the mixture will not ignite properly by the usual means employed for this purpose. V/ hen such a condition exists the valve 24: is unseated sufiiciently to add enough of the mixture of gas and air, to the air that is in the intake pipe 25 to in crease the content of combustible gas in the intake chamber 12 sufficiently to get the desired richness for eflicient operation of the engine. It has been found that the richness of the mixture cannot only be built up in this way, but due to the fact that when the valve 24 is open, gas is constantly flowing into the air intake comprising the pipes 25 and 28, which mixes with the air therein, as the air surges back and forth during and between suction strokes, a much more efficient mixing of the gas and air takes place than is ordinarily the case in. the intake chamber 12 and as a result a mixture ofa1 and air having a smaller content of gas than would ordinarily operate efliciently in the engine will operate the engine in the desired manner, as the explosiveness of the mixture is, of course, dependent. upon how thoroughly the air and gas are mixed. It has even been found that the usual valve 30 controlling flow into the intake chamber 12 may be dispensed with and the entire intake chamber 12 and air intake conduit comprising the pipes 25 and 28 utilized as a mixing chamber for the internal combustion engine, the gaseous mixture thus flowing in constantly both through the pipes 21 and 23, or only through the pipe 21, as the case may be, and mixing with the air contained in the entire passage open to the outer air at 29, but none-of the gas passing out of the end 29 thereof due to the length of the pipe 28 and due to the frequent recurrence of the suction strokes of the engine,,it being, of course, understood that the valve 22 or the valve 2 1 or both of the valves will have to be regulated to control the amount of. gas entering between suction strokes, to obtain the desired mixture of gas and air for the desired combustion action.

Theengine 1.0 in Fig.3 is connected in a very similar manner to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the gas main 16 and with, the

res

air intake connection,;-andthesame numerals are used for theparts corresponding to those described in connection'with Figs. 1 and 2 wherever the same partsare utilized.

' Insteadof connecting the pipe 21, directly with the intake chamber '12, a fitting 32 which'is similar to the fitting 19 is providedv toprovide athree way.) connection between the pipe 21, the pipe 33 leadingfinto the in-r, take chamber 12 through a valve- 34, and a- I pipe 35 which leads to a suitable sourceof gas supply through the valve 36. It is, of course, understood that the fitting 32 has all the openings thereof substantially the same size and that the pipes 21, 33 and '35 are all of substantially the same size. The gas pipe degree by regulatingthe relative amount of opening of the valves 22 and 36, and'that the quantity, of said mixturerelative to the amount of air or air'andgas mixture 'entering through the air i'ntake 25 maybe varied by adjustmentof the valve 34, the opera tion of the device being otherwise substantially the same as described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. l V i What we claim and desire to secure, by

Letters Patents is j In combination with p tion engine including a fuel intake chamber having-an automatic valve, an air line havmg an lntake open to atmosphereand com- -municating with said chamber, a 'gas 'line V communicating with the lair line between said intake and said chamber wherebygas Y is supplied to the air line to enrich the air with the gas between intake strokes of the-* a engine, a branch leading from'the gas line;

' to said chamber, and valves in the "gas line natures.

and branch vfor selectively controlling supply of gas tothe airline orchamber. I v t In testimony LESLIE o. MINGUS.

an internal combuswhereof we afiix ourf sigi 

